Disney Marathon Race Report (Part 3)

Onto Part 3, but first....

Did you miss Part 1? see it HERE

or, Part 2? see it HERE

Post-Race

Excitement. Overwhelming exhaustion. Confidence. Disbelief.

I am so badass! Did I really just finish that race?

I sat on the ground and peeled off my shoes & CEP socks to let my poor, swollen piggies breathe.

Soon the family came over for hugs and congratulations.

I convinced Kevin to peel me an orange since that was the only food that sounded good. It tasted amazing.

Not long after, we headed to the bus line, which thank god was way shorter than the day before. We headed back to the hotel, where my brother forced me to ice bath. Now, I've never taken a "real" ice bath. I took a half assed one once with a small bowl of ice, but this time I squealed and screamed as kevin dumped 3 trash cans full of ice into the tub. Then I sat for 12 minutes until I couldn't stand it anymore.

After the ice bath and a foot and leg massage from my number one supporter, I was feeling much better. I was still going through box after box of kleenex, and using Afrin like it was going out of style, but I was able to stomach a Click protein shake. After my brother was done with his ice bath, we headed to Magic Kingdom to celebrate thanks to my mom as our reward.

I wore my medal with pride around the park. We went straight to the Sweet Shoppe to get mammoth ice cream sandwiches, my first real solid food of the day. A showed me these sandwiches after Disney Princess last year, and I just knew I had to have one.

We followed Ice cream with rides. Space Mountain was closed, but we went on Buzz LightYear, The People Mover, Pirates of the Caribbean, and my favorite Haunted Mansion. Which holds a special place in my heart, since this was the ride I waited in line for when I first found out about the Disney Marathon, and began dreaming of completing it one day myself.

Part of the new Haunted Mansion Graveyard

We saw more construction for the new Fantasyland, which makes me want to come back as soon as its done of course. After rides, we headed to the Polynesian for dinner at the Kona Cafe. We had to wait a while for our reservation, so we enjoyed cocktails at the bar first. The dinner was the best one we'd had at Disney so far. I had a delicious shrimp and noodle dish, and finished up with Pineapple Whip for dessert in the Polynesian downstairs.

Kevin and I had to run to Downtown Disney to pick up my custom Disney Marathon ornament, before heading back to the hotel. We decided to sleep in and not set an alarm until 9. I think we ended up awake at 8ish or so, and I was so happy to have a full night's sleep. We checked out, and headed out to Port Canaveral to catch our cruise ship, the Monarch of the Seas.

I was still not feeling great, but the Marathon seemed to beat the worst of it out of me. Problem? I seemed to pass it along to S, then Kevin too.

Day 1 on the ship, my brother and I went for a quick 2ish mile jog around the track on the ship. My legs felt great, and it was nice to get moving feeling a little better.

Day 2, we all went to Spinning at 8am before docking at Cocoa Cay. We had a great day of snorkeling, sunbathing, relaxing, walking, drinking.

Day 3, we had to move rooms because our air conditioner broke. Our new room was right above the club, and all we could hear was music every time we tried to relax. We skipped a workout to move our belongings, and went to Nassau for the day. We enjoyed Conch fritters, crack conch, and plantains, and a few Kaliks. We relaxed on the beach and then hit Senor Frogs for a drink before heading back to the boat.

Beer of the Bahamas!

Can you tell I have a Sparkly Soul headband on? Its my new staple!

Lovin life at Senor Frogs!

We had one more day at sea on the boat. I skipped another workout to sleep in, which was amazing. I was still sickish, but feeling better. Unfortunately, now Kevin was feeling worse. We relaxed by the pool, lost at Bingo, and enjoyed some Red Velvet cupcakes that someone accidentally sent to our room. We also spent way too much time at Guest Relations dealing with our room issues.

yummmm

Last night at Dinner with Kevin, Jason & his girl

I have never been so happy to get home from a vacation. I think the combination of sickness and poor service made me long for my comfy bed and hours of sleep. I would not recommend the Monarch of the Seas to anyone. After a loooooong day at Orlando airport (11 hours before out plane left), we finally made it home after 12am, and crashed.

Kevin & I are both finally feeling better, and looking forward to our next vacation.... 

Whenever that will be!

Disney Marathon Race Report (Part 1)

Lets break this into 3 parts, pre-race, race, post-race since there's so much to go over.

Pre-Race

We headed out Friday morning early for our flight, which was leaving at 6:30am. I was in a rush, even waking up at 3:30am. I didn't have time to make breakfast to bring with me, and after making a protein smoothie, I left it sitting on the coffee table. Thankfully I managed to get everything else I needed into my bags and the car, and we headed to the airport. 

I had a great Livingsocial coupon for airport parking (only $31 for a week), so we parked, then took the short shuttle ride to the airport, where we met up with my mom, sister, and her friend. I started with my choking problem here, managing to choke on my Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich (later the almonds made me choke uncontrollably).

The flight was uneventful, and we got to the airport and waited for my brother and his girlfriend to arrive so we could head over to the hotel. We were staying at Port Orleans French Quarter hotel, and took the magical express there. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready, but my mom's was. We dumped our bags in her room, then headed for the race expo.

It really started to set in as I picked up my bib. "I can't believe I'm running a marathon!" I told the woman who gave me my bib. Kevin and I made signs to cheer my mom, brother & me on during the race, then headed from bib pickup to the building for bag pickup.

Me & Mom at Bib Pickup!

Once we had our race bags it was official race merchandise time! I loved my sweatshirt I got for the half 2 years ago, and was really looking forward to getting one for the marathon. Unfortunately we found the merchandise to be a little lacking. The design on most of the items wasn't great, but I finally found a marathon jacket I love, and of course a wine glass. My brother was so upset because the Goofy merchandise was really lacking. He ended up with nothing.

my new marathon jacket

We made our way through the booths. My mom bought a stick after I told her how much I loved the one Kevin bought me for christmas. We got bananas, crasins, and even a picture of Tony Horton. Finally we hit the Nuun booth, where Nuun was 2 for $10 with a free waterbottle. score! My mom and I stocked up. We also grabbed my sister a couple new Bondi Bands.

After the Expo, we headed back to the hotel, only to find our room still was not ready. We were told that even though check in time is at 3pm, rooms are not guaranteed until 5pm. We finally got into our room at 4:30, only to find out that it was dirty (gross hair all over the sink). We left a message to complain, and headed to dinner at Portobellos at Downtown Disney.

We had made a reservation weeks ago for 12 of us. My Aunt, her husband, my cousin, and 2 others were joining us too. We were forced to wait over an hour past our reservation time to be seated, and the disappointment continued from there. The service was lacking, the prices high, and the food mediocre. Our eggplant fries came out cold and had to be sent back, the pizza was very bland and tasteless, and overall we were very disappointed. It was during dinner that my throat started hurting, but I guessed it was due to my frequent choking that day, and ignored it.

The next morning we had an early wake-up call to watch the Half Marathon to cheer my Mom & Brother on. I woke up feeling like death. My throat hurt so bad, I was convinced I had strep throat and would have to find a doctor later that day. I had to blow my nose constantly, and couldn't breathe. Luckily I had brought some Sudafed and Afrin, which I put to good use. Our plan was to get to the ticket & transportation center (around 4.5 miles), then take the monorail to the finish. My brother's girlfriend, Kevin & I staked out a good spot and settled in. It was freezing!! Soon the Wheelchair competitors were coming by. SO AMAZING. I love to watch the different kinds of chairs they have, watch the different techniques (crank vs. push-rim, seated vs laying), and cheer them on. Soon the elites were heading through, men then women. So fast.

We were trying to calculate how long it would take for my brother and mom. It was hard to find anything in the thick crowds. There were more people than I remembered from 2 years prior. We missed my brother, but caught my mom. I ran out onto the course and instantly started crying, telling her how proud I was of her, how much I loved her. She told me she was hurting, and I told her to push through it and pick it up a little, she needed to beat the time clock. Some woman nearby said I was going to make her cry too. I jumped up and down and cheered and yelled. I was so proud to see her out there.

Me & Mom on the course, ticket & transportation center.

After seeing her there, we got on a bus to get on the other side of the street to the monorail, then headed to Epcot. Remembering the course, I thought we should head to mile 12 just before they enter the park to give them that last little boost needed to get to the end.

We were really hoping to see my brother since we missed him at the 4.5 mile mark. We spent a lot of time near the Team in Training cheerleader, he was an awesome pick-me-up for many runners.

Finally we saw my brother! He looked great, like he was at an easy pace, having a great time. He ended up crushing the race with a great new PR for him at 2:23:50 (but I still beat him in half PR land haha).

My mom was about an hour behind him, so we cheered on the other runners as we waited. I saw some great things while we waited. Women and men of all sizes and shapes and abilities. People in incredible costumes. A man with his arm in a sling. A woman in a walking boot. Older runners running by themselves or with spouses, some with Goofy bibs on. Faces filled with pain, faces filled with joy, faces filled with determination. Spectating a race is so inspiring.

Finally my mom came through. We jumped up & down & cheered! She had made a new friend she was walking with. She told us she had even stopped to help a walker that had fallen. I told her to push it through to the end, she was almost done. She was limping, her recently injured hamstring was really getting bad, but I told her to keep going, she was almost there. 

We ran toward the finish, knowing we had about 16 minutes until she'd be there. We saw her heading down that last .1 miles into the chute to finish, so amazing! She finished in 3:34:25!

My mom, a half marathoner!!

hugging my brother

Mom is all done, and Jason is 1/3rd through his weekend mileage

After the race, we headed back to the hotel. I took care of my mom who wasn't feeling well. Her hamstring was developing a huge bruise and she was feeling nauseous. So like a good daughter, I got her ice for her hamstring and her aching Glute, made her a cold glass of Nuun and got her graham crackers to eat. Then of course we brought her Coors Light from the gift shop for once she was feeling better. I was starting to not feel well, so I laid down for a nap. Only an hour or 2, but it felt great to sleep. I woke up unable to breathe, my cold was getting worse. I stuffed kleenex into my purse and Kevin and I went to Downtown Disney to shop before dinner at Wolfgang Pucks with everyone.

I started feeling worse. Hazy, stuffy, sore throat, runny nose. I could barely eat any dinner, but drank some hot tea which was amazing. Finally, I just couldn't stand being out anymore, so Kevin took me back to the hotel early so i could get some rest before the morning's marathon. Unfortunately we had the longest bus ride back to the hotel, and I headed to bed ASAP after taking more medicine.

all my gear!

I called for a 3am wakeup call, then jumped in bed. I tossed and turned. I blew my nose constantly. I couldn't sleep. I'm not sure if it was a side effect of the medicine I took, but I couldn't sleep. I was exhausted, but just couldn't fall asleep. Kevin tried anything I asked to help, but it was impossible. I just kept staring at the clock. I finally got 20 minutes in between 2-3am. Not a good way to start off the most important day of my life.

Race Day will be included in part 2!

Disney Dining & week 14 recap!

I booked our dining reservations for Disney!

Friday Morning we'll be flying from Hartford to Orlando, then checking in at Port Orleans. Then off to the Expo! Dinner will be at Portobellos at Downtown Disney to get my mom & brother ready for the Half Marathon!

Saturday I'll be spectating the Half Marathon (my first spectating race!), then we have a wide open day. We still haven't decided if we want to hit a park at all while we're there. Saturday night we're eating at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe to get ready for the Marathon in the morning!

Sunday is Marathon day! I would love to go on a drinking binge at Epcot following, but I'm not sure how I'll feel afterwards, so we're not making any plans quite yet.

What are your favorite non-park activities at Disney?


Today was Kevin's birthday!
I had the day off so we could celebrate. I took him out to breakfast after my TRX class, then to the mall for christmas exchanges, then back to play some xbox kinect (my christmas gift to him), finished up by a fabulous dinner at one of our favorite italian places. He just left for drinks out with some friends while I start packing and looking at cruise activities!

Marathon Training Week 14 Recap
Monday- I was planning on getting in my additional 4 that I missed in the 16/20 sunday. I was exhausted in the morning, and couldn't get up to run. After work, I headed to the gym, only to see the parking lot FILLED with cars. Making me think of the time I would waste to go in and find no free treadmills. I went home instead & did a 6 mile bike ride on the trainer.
Tuesday- Treadmill Speedwork for a little over 5 miles with 800ms, knee and speed felt great. An awesome confidence boosting run after the failed 20 miler.
Wednesday- TRX Circuit. Felt awesome the whole time through.
Thursday- 5 miles at mid-tempo pace of 5.9mph. Fast, but doable, I felt great!
Friday- Early morning to breakfast with the coworkers before work to say goodbye to my student. We went to a friends house that night, but came home early since I was planning my long run for Saturday.
Saturday- Christmas Eve! Only 25 degrees out again. My brother was heading out for 16 outside & invited me along. I only had 13 on my schedule and was dreading the cold. I killed my 13 on the treadmill instead.
Sunday- No exercise unless you count stuffing my face, and unwrapping gifts at both my parents houses on christmas!

Nutrition- FAIL on the working on reducing sweets! This time of year is too hard!! I am working on a christmas detox, although with Kevin's bday celebration it didn't go well today. Tomorrow is another day.

This weeks runs have been going well, and I'm looking forward to the race.
10 days left!